Numbers 22:21-23:30

Numbers 22:21-23:30New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Balaam’s donkey

21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.

24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.

26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?’

29 Balaam answered the donkey, ‘You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you here and now.’

30 The donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?’

‘No,’ he said.

31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell face down.

32 The angel of the Lord asked him, ‘Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.[a]33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.’

34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, ‘I have sinned. I did not realise you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.’

35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, ‘Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.’ So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.

36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory. 37 Balak said to Balaam, ‘Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you?’

38 ‘Well, I have come to you now,’ Balaam replied. ‘But I can’t say whatever I please. I must speak only what God puts in my mouth.’

39 Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and gave some to Balaam and the officials who were with him. 41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, and from there he could see the outskirts of the Israelite camp.

Balaam’s first message

23 Balaam said, ‘Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.’ 2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3 Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.’ Then he went off to a barren height.

4 God met with him, and Balaam said, ‘I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.’

5 The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, ‘Go back to Balak and give him this word.’

6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials. 7 Then Balaam spoke his message:

‘Balak brought me from Aram,the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.“Come,” he said, “curse Jacob for me;come, denounce Israel.”8 How can I cursethose whom God has not cursed?How can I denouncethose whom the Lord has not denounced?9 From the rocky peaks I see them,from the heights I view them.I see people who live apartand do not consider themselves one of the nations.10 Who can count the dust of Jacobor number even a fourth of Israel?Let me die the death of the righteous,and may my final end be like theirs!’

11 Balak said to Balaam, ‘What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!’

12 He answered, ‘Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?’

Balaam’s second message

13 Then Balak said to him, ‘Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them for me.’ 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15 Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.’

16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, ‘Go back to Balak and give him this word.’

17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, ‘What did the Lord say?’

18 Then he spoke his message:

‘Arise, Balak, and listen;hear me, son of Zippor.19 God is not human, that he should lie,not a human being, that he should change his mind.Does he speak and then not act?Does he promise and not fulfil?20 I have received a command to bless;he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

21 ‘No misfortune is seen in Jacob,no misery observed[b] in Israel.The Lord their God is with them;the shout of the King is among them.22 God brought them out of Egypt;they have the strength of a wild ox.23 There is no divination against[c] Jacob,no evil omens against[d] Israel.It will now be said of Jacoband of Israel, “See what God has done!”24 The people rise like a lioness;they rouse themselves like a lionthat does not rest till it devours its preyand drinks the blood of its victims.’

25 Then Balak said to Balaam, ‘Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!’

26 Balaam answered, ‘Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?’

Balaam’s third message

27 Then Balak said to Balaam, ‘Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.’ 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.

29 Balaam said, ‘Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.’ 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Luke 1:57-80

Luke 1:57-80New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

The birth of John the Baptist

57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, ‘No! He is to be called John.’

61 They said to her, ‘There is no one among your relatives who has that name.’

62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John.’ 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbours were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, ‘What then is this child going to be?’ For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Zechariah’s song

67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68 ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,because he has come to his people and redeemed them.69 He has raised up a horn[a] of salvation for usin the house of his servant David70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),71 salvation from our enemiesand from the hand of all who hate us –72 to show mercy to our ancestorsand to remember his holy covenant,73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,and to enable us to serve him without fear75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,77 to give his people the knowledge of salvationthrough the forgiveness of their sins,78 because of the tender mercy of our God,by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven79 to shine on those living in darknessand in the shadow of death,to guide our feet into the path of peace.’

80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit[b]; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Psalm 58

Psalm 58New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. Of David. A miktam.[b]

1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?Do you judge people with equity?2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer,however skilful the enchanter may be.

6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns –whether they be green or dry – the wicked will be swept away.[c]10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.11 Then people will say,‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded;surely there is a God who judges the earth.’

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